School asks students to take down confederate flags at Augusta High School

AUGUSTA, Kansas – Confederate flags were flying at Augusta High School in the parking lot on Friday.

School leaders asked the students to take the flags off their trucks. The kids complied with school leaders.

“But to be a minority in this town with that kind of intimidation, even though it’s just a symbol, it’s still a symbol of intimidation,” says Amber, a parent in Augusta. “It’s a symbol of hate it’s a symbol of bigotry.”

Other parents said, it’s no big deal.

“I don’t think they (the school) should be able to tell them to take them down,” says Deanna, an Augusta parent. “It’s part of our history.”

School leaders did not want to talk on camera, but say they asked the students to remove the flags from three different trucks. The trucks were also displaying the American flag, and the American flags remain on the trucks in the parking lot.

One student, who says he was involved with the flag controversy told KSN they didn’t intend to intimidate.

“I just don’t think it’s a big deal. We’re kids,” said the student.”We had a couple gentlemen come and shake our hands and said thank you for flying these flags… There’s like 10 of us that want to fly them. It’s not just confederate flags. We have American flags up too.”

The concerned parent says there was genuine concern from some students.

“My daughter snapped some pictures,” says Amber. “She said, oh my, I want to quit this school. I can’t believe the people around here. And I told her not everybody is like that. But this was a coordinated effort by three kids with big flags and big trucks, to show up at the same time on a Friday morning. All I know is when three kids get together and drive to school with flags that size on a truck, they are planning it.”